Bakersfield’s other two representatives did well as Chad Rogers came in for an inning of relief in the 6th and gave up one unearned run. Blaze closer Brian Pearl came in to start the bottom of the eighth and pitched got two outs before they opted for Quakenbush to get some playing time.

There were two other Blaze nominations to the roster, Donald Lutz, who is still on the DL (hoping to return soon in the 2nd half) and Tony Cingrani who is now pitching in AA for the Pensacola Blue Wahoos.

This was a FANTASTIC showing for the Bakersfield Blaze and even though unfortunate for the Cal League, it’s great to see our guys make a mark. Now we just need them to start off the 2nd half of the season with the same way they ended the first and having Lutz back will be a huge help.

Other notes:

• Billy Hamilton continues his terror on the bases and brings nationwide attention.  To date, he is hitting .330 with 62 stolen bases in 53 games. 
• Donald Lutz is re-habbing in Arizona right now, but should return before the all-star break.  The Blaze have managed to win without his big bat coming through as usual (.306, 13HR, 39RBI)
• Tony Cingrani has continued to baffle hitters.  He finished his career with the Blaze (called up to Pensacola last week) with a 5-1 record, 1.11 ERA, 71K and 13BB.  That’s freaking impressive.  Too bad we lost him so early, it could have helped the Blaze playoff run.
• Cingrani wasnt the only player that The Pensacola Blue Wahoos have stolen from Bakersfield recently, 3B David Vidal, RHP Kyle Lotzkar, OF Andrew Means and OF Stephen Hunt have also moved up.
• In town this week is roving hitting instructor for the Reds, former slugger Eric Davis.
• Relief pitching has been an achilles heel for the Blaze all season long.  The Reds recently moved Andrew Brackman from the Louisville Bats (AAA) to the Blaze for some help

• First 11 games the Blaze averaged 3.63 runs per game, last 7 games is 5.57 rpg.
• Starting pitching ERA is 2.76
• 8 HR
• 19 Stolen Bases (leading the Cal League)
• Ind batting – Billy Hamilton .375, Donald Lutz .357, Devin Lohman .344

Ken Griffey Sr. has got the team on track and now the Blaze look to be rolling.  Hamilton’s play has earned him the top spot in Baseball America’s prospect watch and Tony Cingrani, Daniel Renken and Kyle Lotzkar are showing an incredible 1-2-3 punch.  Next up for the Blaze is a 10 game road trip at Stockton, Modesto and Lake Elsinore.  This will be a great test for them as they have pulled themselves from the cellar of the North division to just 1.5 games back of the SJ Giants.

The game went rather smoothly until the Oaks scored in the top of the third, but the Blaze quickly answered with Hamilton’s 2 run shot to left field to put them back in front.  After that, Renken went into a zone allowing the one run on 5 scattered hits and K’ing 5.  Daniel Wolford and Wilkin De La Rosa both gave strong performances out of the pen and Brian Pearl came in to close out the game by striking out 2 and recording the save.  On the offensive side, the Blaze made the most of their 4 hits by bringing in 3 runs, one of which was a late insurance run thanks to the showcased speed of Hamilton as he did obtain his first stolen base of the season. 

It was a great beginning to the season and Griffey Sr had to have been pleased with the jump out of the gate his pitching staff gave him.  Keep in mind that pitchers report earlier to spring training allowing them to have a little more practise in early in the season so I dont think hitting will be an issue for the Blaze.  It was a great start, so now all they need to do is follow that up with another solid performance in order to compliment fireworks friday.  Go Blaze!

Locally, the biggest and GREATEST news happened when local Bakersfield businessmen Gene Voiland and Chad Hathaway bought the Blaze off of the D.G. Elmore group, who has owned the team since 2006… in Indiana.  The first thing you hear about when talking about the Blaze is the state of Sam Lynn Park.  Granted, it is built backwards and has not been taking that great of care of, but Voiland and Hathaway showed how easy a difference could be made with some small upgrades.   Why did it take so long?  Again, Elmore was owning the team from Indiana and most assuredly doesnt come to Bakersfield often, let alone connect with the city to know what the locals say about the park.  If you’re reason for not attending a game was because of the Park, then you OWE it to yourself to get back out there.  Even with all the upgrades, the park will hardly be noticeable once you see the amass of talent ON the field. 

Let’s just say 2012 is going to be a very fun year for Blaze fans as the Cincinnati Reds have really staked our team to be something to mess with in the California League.  Of course, Ken Griffey Sr is back at the helm for the club and he has Eli Marrero with him as batting coach and Rigo Beltran taking on the pitchers.  If you pay attention to Minor League Baseball then you heard about Billy Hamilton last year with the Dayton Dragons (Reds A-team) as he stole 103 bases, the first in pro baseball to hit triple digits in over a decade.  With the upward movement of Rodriguez, LaMarre and Grandal last season, I thought Billy might play a few games here, but he stayed with the Dragons for the entire season.  He is the Reds Organization #2 prospect according to Baseball America and #48 overall in baseball.  If he has a similar season with the Blaze, then there is little chance that he will play all of 2012 in Bakersfield.  The Blaze also have 2 members of the 40 man roster of the Blaze with Kyle Lotzkar, the right handed Canadian 2007 first round pick (as a 1B) and 1B Donald Lutz, the left handed slugger who helped the Reds Futures team take victory against the big league club on 4/3/2012 with a 2 run homer off of Mike Leake.  The futures game in Cincy featured several current Blaze, next to Lutz, Hamilton and Lotzkar also had 3B David Vidal, C Tucker Barnhart and RP Tony Cingrani recorded the save for the futures team. Also returning are some of last seasons favorites, SP Daniel Renken and OF Stephen Hunt, who will be playing a little first base this year.  Let’s just say that the Reds REALLY have given a lot of their treasured assets to Bakersfield and those are all the more reasons to see the club play.   

With that, I am going to make a few predictions on what we will see here with our Club in 2012.

Fan Attendance: 100,000+

Team Record: 81-59

HR Leader: Donald Lutz 28 HR

RBI Leader: Donald Lutz 89 RBI

AVG Leader: Billy Hamilton .312

First Call-Up: Tony Ciangrani

W Leader: Josh Smith 13 Wins

ERA Leader: Josh Smith 3.58 ERA

SV Leader: Brooks Pinckard 18 Saves

What are your predictions?

Yasmani Grandal being the plate for the Blaze in 44 games (photo by Chris J. Martin)

We knew it was going to happen, but not quite this early.  The #12 pick of the 2010 MLB Draft has been optioned to the AA Carolina Mudcats.  Grandal leaves the Blaze after hitting .296 with 10 hr’s and 40 RBI in 251 plate appearances.  Grandal was always a careful selector at the plate and had 57 strike outs and 41 base on balls.  I had the pleasure of interviewing Yasmani before his departure, but havent transcribed it yet.  Terrible, I know.  But we wish him well in Carolina, and are sure he will be up with Cincy before too long.  He played hard in Bakersfield and was a very strong  leader behind the plate, and Carolina just got better.

Defensively, LaMarre also added an amazing catch up against the wall in centerfield which is not a simple task in the lights of Sam Lynn.  The ballpark has extremely low lights and outfielders quite frequently lose the ball above the lights during night games.  Lance Janke also gave a stellar 6.2 inning performance on the mound allowing only 3 runs on 6 hits while striking out 7 and most impressively walking none.  It was unfortunate that such a solid performance didnt result in a win for Janke, but his handling of the hot hitting San Jose Giants proved to be a difference maker in giving the Blaze the “W.” 

Unfortunately on Sunday the Blaze were not able to take the series from the Giants, which would have been the perfect ending and response to the game one blowout.  The Giants Chris Heston out duelled Josh Ravin by lasting a few innings longer.  It’s a sad result for Ravin who carries a 3.31 ERA but a 1-2 record and no decisions in some of his greatest games of the season.  Whereas the Blaze hit 4 homers on saturday, they only got two extra base hits and both were doubles.  It wasnt a bad effort, but the Blaze just couldnt get enough offense together to compete with the Giants offensively.

All in all it was a very good series and a showcase of talent in the California League.  The San Jose Giants have 9 of the Giants top 20 prospects, including the top two pitching prospects in the organization, Zach Wheeler and Jose Casilla.  This team is obviously very good, especially in the pitching department and the team has won the last two California League Championships.  The Blaze had some errors and some pitching that had rough innings but there is still a lot of baseball listen and it will be really interesting to see these two match up again at the end of the month.

It’s amazing when a team can put up 7 runs and 12 hits and still get a loss, but that’s exactly what happened on this offnight for the Blaze as the Giants managed 23 hits.  In fact there was only one inning the Giants didnt get a hit.  Blaze still have a very apparent line of delineation at the 6th inning as they are 1-10 when trailing and 14-2 when ahead.  It’s a night we want to forget, and in doing so, let’s look for some positive take-aways.

• In one scoreless inning of relief, Welinton Ramierez struck out two
• Blaze pitchers did manage to strike out 11 Giants
• Josh Fellhauer went 3-5 in his 13th multi-hit game of the season
• Eric Campbell had another two doubles
• All of the Blaze runs came after being down 13-0 which is a great sign of not giving up!

The most positive take-away from the road trip was how they ended it.  The last 5 games of the road trip had the Blaze once again taking batting practise on the opposing pitchers and there isnt only one road for success from this year’s Blaze team.  They play small ball but also hit the long ball.  Ken Griffey Sr. has such a great handle on his team so early in his first managerial season, it can only make you excited for what is to come.  Up next is a three game series at home against the reigning back to back California League Champion and current second place San Jose Giants. The Giants are leading the CAL League in Team ERA so matching up with the Blaze will be a battle.  Taking this series would put the Blaze in the second spot only looking up at the Ports.

AMAZING STATS

We know the Blaze can hit.  Actually, we know the Blaze can flat out MASH.  Check out these tidbits.

• Three players have OPS over 1.000 (Stephen Hunt, Eric Campbell and Yasmani Grandal)
• Blaze as a team are hitting .319.  Second Place in the Cal League (Quakes) are hitting .291
• Blaze BB:K (batting) ratio is 1:1.77! Discerning eyes as well

BACK-TO-BACK

A huge congratulations to Stephen Hunt for earning the California League Player of the Week and giving the honor to the Blaze for the second consecutive week!  Stephen hit .563 with 3 HR and 16 RBI and only striking out twice.  A fantastic first week in his first week as a pro after being the Reds 15th round pick.